Archytas of Tarentum
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Archytas of Tarentum: (b. c420 BC, Taras/Tarentum; d. c350 BC). Pythagorean philosopher, statesman, general, and mathematician. As leader of Taras, he was able to use his influence to save the life of his friend Plato who was threatened with possible execution by Dionysius II of Syracuse. He served as commander of the army of Taras for a period of 7 years, despite a law which forbade any person from holding that post for more than a year. During his time in command he earned a reputation for honesty and virtue. He unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the other Greek cities in Magna Graecia to form a defensive league.
As a philosopher and scientist Archytas earned great renown. A pupil of Philolaus, he was a confirmed Pythagorean, believing that mathematics provided the key to all of the mysteries of the universe. According to his theory, mathematics was divided into four branches: geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music. He is credited with being the first scholar to apply geometry to mechanics, and credited machines based on mathematical principals. He evolved theorems relating to the cube, and developed the idea of harmonic progression (1, ½, 1/3, ¼…) in mechanics, as opposed to arithmetical progression (1, 2, 3, 4…). Archytas also studied sound, discovering that pitch depended on the speed of vibration of air, a vital discovery in the development of the concept of wave motion. His studies also included acoustics and music, working out the ratios which underlie the relations of successive notes in the enharmonic, chromatic, and diatonic scales. Archytas is often claimed to be the inventor of the pulley, and Aulus Gellius credits him with inventing a flying machine.
Archytas is known to have written several works, but only fragments of one treatise, On Wisdom, has survived to modern times. According to Horace, Archytas perished when his ship went down in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Apulia.